Condrieu Terrasses de l’Empire 2009, Domaine Georges Vernay

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Our Price:  £45.75Earn 45 Loyalty Points Bottle or Case:    Single Bottle:  £45.75  Case of 6:  £274.50  Case of 12:  £549.00 Producer:  Domaine Georges Vernay Grape Varieties:  100% Viognier Optimum Drinking:  Within 5 years Wine Style:  Fresh and rounded with peach flavours Alcohol by Volume:  13.5% Country:  France Availability:

Condrieu Terrasses de l'Empire 2009 - Domaine Georges Vernay

Georges Vernay is known as the "King of Condrieu" and was responsible for the growth and worldwide recognition of this small appellation during the 1950s.

His estate covers 16 hectares of vineyards, 3 of which are in the Côte Rotie appellation. The steep and uneven vineyards make mechanical labour impossible. The vines are manually propagated without the use of residual herbicide or insecticide.

George's youngest son Luc ran the winery after his father went into semi-retirement, but left to set up a flying school, while the oldest son is rehabilitating racehorses in Texas. George's daughter, Christine, returned to her roots with Paul Anselem, her Parisian husband, and has looked after the winemaking since 1997.

Grapes: 100% Estate grown Viognier. The vineyards cover 4.5 hectares of vines grown on exceptionally steep hillsides where the soil is granite.

Age of Vines: 25 years old Planting Density: 8,000 to 10,000 vines per hectare

Yield: 32 HL per Hectare Annual Production: 20,000 bottles

Pruning: Guyot Root Stock: 110 Richter

Harvest: By hand as the very steep vineyards make mechanical harvesting impossible.

Fermentation: In temperature controlled 20HL tuns. A small proportion of the wine was aged in new wood and the balance in stainless steel tanks.

Taste: A fresh and round wine characterised by its peach and apricot flavours. The small percentage of wood added roundness to the wine.